Q and A with Minnesota Twins farm director Brad Steil

Brad Steil is in his third season as the Minnesota Twins' director of minor league operations. The Minnesota native oversees a farm system that is widely regarded as one of the top five to 10 in baseball.

It has been only three years since the Twins and Cedar Rapids Kernels have partnered, and three former Kernels already have seen time in the major leagues, including mega-prospect outfielder Byron Buxton. Infielder Jorge Polanco also has played games with Minnesota last season and this season, and pitcher Tyler Duffey just notched his first MLB victory this past weekend.

Steil was in town a week and a half ago to observe the Kernels. He answered some questions for The Gazette.

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Q: Let's start out in a different way here. The TrakMan data system you installed this season here at the stadium is fascinating to me. There is just so much information it provides. How do you use that?

A: We go through it all up in Minnesota. It's just another way to monitor our guys, how they are pitching. You can use that as a baseline if somebody gets hurt and are coming back. We have TrakMan down in Fort Myers, too … It's another evaluation tool. You can use it for coaching as well. If something is off with their release point, or their slider spin or whatever, you can use that as a coaching tool. We don't really share it with the players a lot, but it tells us maybe what's going on.

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Q: You see teams in the Midwest League like Quad Cities, which employs defensive shifts on every single opposing player. It's an organizational mandate (from the Astros). Do you think it'll ever get to that point with you guys?

A: We kind of give our managers freedom. It's obviously something we talked about in spring training. A lot of times it's only as good as the information you have. There is some eyeball evaluation you can do if you don't have a lot of information on a hitter, too. We like to use it some because we use it in the big leagues, and guys need to get used to it. If you're a third baseman, you've got to get used to moving over (toward shortstop) once in awhile. The pitchers need to get used to it, how to pitch into the shift. The pitcher and the defense have to work together on that. The pitcher has to be able to live with ‘Hey, if I give up a groundball hit to third base, where the third baseman would ordinarily be, I've got to live with that. I can't let it get me off track from what I'm doing.'

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Q: What are your overall impressions of this Kernels club? How have they performed? How have they developed individually?

A: I think they're having a really good season. The coaching staff here has done a really good job of getting them to play good baseball. They've had strong pitching, a good bullpen and have scored enough runs to win games. I don't think (offense) has been the strength of the team over the course of the year. (Third baseman) T.J. White got sent up, got a taste of the Florida State League. (Catcher) Brett Doe did as well. (Pitcher) Stephen Gonsalves had a great two months here and got moved up. It was time for him to move, and it's been a good learning experience for him in the Florida State League. They haven't chased as many of his pitches out of the zone as they did here, and that's why you see the difference in the numbers. It's been a good thing for him to go up there. But, overall, they've done a really good job here. In terms of prospects, I don't think we've had the same number of guys go through here we had maybe last year and for sure two years ago. Yet they are still winning games and playing good baseball.

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Q: What did you see from (2014 first-round pick) Nick Gordon this time around that maybe you didn't see the previous time you saw him earlier in the season?

A: I think you definitely see a difference in his at-bats. Granted, I'm only here for a short time. But the days I've been here, he is taking better at-bats, he is being more aggressive when he swings the bat. He is hitting the ball harder, more line drives, getting more balls to the outfield. That's the big difference I see. In the field, I think probably you can see his arm is worn down a little bit. He's not quite making as strong of throws (from shortstop) as he was earlier in the year, which is fine because he's a young kid. As he matures physically, he'll probably develop some more arm strength and some endurance over the course of a season, and will have some more bat speed down the road, too.

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Q: You've got to be pleased overall with the progression he's made, right?

A: He's handled it well. There were stories out there earlier in the year that maybe he wasn't ready for this league. I know his batting average was down to, like, .220 at one point. So for him to battle through that and learn from it and show the progression here in the second half is really encouraging.

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Q: Who else on this team has stood out to you? Someone who, if they keep progressing, could help out some day at the big-league level?

A: I think (outfielder) Tanner English, with the tools he has … He can run and throw, he can play center field. He can swing the bat a little bit, too. It's been a process with him of working on his swing a little bit, working on his approach and understanding who he is as a hitter. (Hitting coach) Tommy (Watkins) has done a real good job of that, and I think you've seen that (lately). He has really played well, much better than when I saw him the first time. He has made good progress this year, too. I think (catcher) Brian Navarreto. Behind the plate he's got all the tools defensively. He's making progress. He's got a pretty good knack for calling a game. I think his blocking is something he can work on … And the bat is coming along. He looks much better than he did back in May. That's a good sign, too.

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Q: Off the top of your head, are there any pitchers that have impressed you?

A: Sam Gibbons did a really nice job the other night. His velocity was down from the last time I saw him, but, really, his idea of changing speeds and locating was impressive. I thought Randy Rosario … He's going to have stuff. He throws hard for a left-hander. Just coming back from Tommy John, it's good to see him healthy. His stuff is coming back. His command probably isn't all the way back, yet, to where it was. Let's see, who else? Trevor Hildenberger was here and had a great season. He's doing pretty good at Fort Myers. Felix Jorge has had a nice year … He has come a long way from last year. He struggled in this league last year, but I think that was a good experience for him. He went back to Elizabethton and was the pitcher of the year in that league, and now he's been able to carry that into this season, he's been the leader of our staff most of the year.

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Q: This is your third year as farm director. Do you feel like you are starting to put your stamp on the minor-league system and implementing what you originally envisioned?

A: I think we're getting there. I think we've improved some things over the last few years. In terms of pitching, one of the things we've really focused on is teaching our guys how to strike people out. Last year, I think we were second or third in strikeout percentage in the minor leagues as a whole. This year, we were first or second for quite awhile, though we've fallen down to maybe fifth or sixth. We tailed off a little bit pitching wise in July, so hopefully we'll bounce back here in August. I think we're still in the top couple in walk-to-strikeout percentage, and that's been a good thing. There's no secret. You preach attacking the strike zone and getting early-in-the-count outs and weak contact. Then when you get to two strikes, you've got to put guys away. We've been fortunate that we've drafted a lot of talented players over the last four or five years. That's why we've won games in the minor leagues. You've got to have good players and good coaches, and that's kind of the secret. Then as we get more of these guys to the big leagues, we'll win more games up there, too.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com